How to Make: DIY Airbag Tester.

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This video will show you step by step instructions on how to make a DIY airbag tester so you can test your airbag without the need for an expensive airbag diagnosis tool.

This airbag dummy is used to quickly and easily diagnose an airbag system in the event of an airbag light showing up and reading a DTC like B0024 or B0028 or any airbag code pointing to a short to ground or open circuit. It lets you quickly isolate if the problem comes from the airbag or somewhere else.

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Step 1: Tools Needed:

Some wire

2 needles (or push pins)

2ohm resistor

heat shrinking tube - two sizes: 1x the same size of the wire 1x double of the size of the wire

wire stripper

a lighter

electrical tape

soldering iron

multi-meter

Step 2:

1- First, cut yourself about 4-6 inches of wire (as needed).

Step 3:

2- Strip the two ends of the wire.

Step 4:

3- If you use a push-pin, cut it so the two tips of the push-pin are sharp. if you use sewing needles you can just leave them as they are.

Step 5:

4- Twist the wire tightly with the needle so we can weld it later.

Step 6:

(You can test your resistor first to make sure it suits your needs. It shoud be between 2 and 2.4-2.6 ohms.)

Step 7:

5- Install the 2 ohms resistor to the other end exactly as you did with the needle.

Step 8:

6- Solder the needle and the resistor to the wire

Step 9:

7- Curve the wire just before the resistor and measure the length between the other end of the resistor and the tip of the needle we just weld.

Step 10:

8- Cut the wire accordingly and strip the two ends of it.

Step 11:

9- Twist one end of the wire with the resistor.

Step 12:

10- Install the second needle just like you did with the first one.

Step 13:

11- Make sure the length of the wires are correctly sized so the two needles are side by side.

Step 14:

12- Solder the resistor and the needle to the wire.

Step 15:

13- Put some of the smaller heat shrinking tube over the soldered portion of the needles and the resistor.

Step 16:

14- Apply some heat to the shrinking tube to seal it.

Step 17:

15- Quick check up to verify all the connections are good.

Step 18:

16- Insert 2 new shrinking tubes over the needles to keep them separated.

Step 19:

17- Apply some heat.

Step 20:

18- Cut the bigger shrinking tube about half of the total length from the resistor to the needles and insert it over the two wires leaving only the two needles out.

Step 21:

19- Apply some heat again. (Make sure it's sealing tight.)

Step 22:

20- Put electrical tape on it just to make sure it will last longer. Our own model had some cracks in the shrinking tube after a while so to ensure no dirt or water can get in we thought covering it with electrical tape would help a bit.

Step 23:

VOILA!

The 2 needles can now plug in the airbag connector and the 2 ohm resistor will "fake" the airbag. Now, plug the airbag tester dummy in place of the airbag you want to test, erase the code and restart the vehicule. If the code was showing up because of the airbag, it should not show up again. If it does show up again, you know for sure that the problem is elsewhere. It could be the clock spring or an open loop in some other wires. A more thorough inspection could be needed but at least you are not replacing a perfectly good airbag for nothing.

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